mid bass, detail, openness.........

none

If you've ever listened to speakers that brought tears to your eyes, you will appreciate my experience with Revel's M20 and C30. I began my search for audiophile-grade home theater speakers approximately 3 years ago, with criteria of: 1) precise soundstage, imaging and clarity; 2) solid dynamics; and 3) open, translucent center channel. In short, I was looking for audiophile speakers that would perform equally well in home theater. My search began with Aerial Acoustics, Avalon, B&W, Dynaudio, JM Lab, Proac, Revel, Totem and others, and in the end the Revel’s were the clear victor. Now, after 3 months of ownership, I can honestly say that I would be hard pressed to find a better sounding bookshelf and center channel combination. I know longer watch movies, I participate in them. I know longer listen to multi-channel recordings, I conduct them. These speakers are so open, natural and dynamic that they will unleash your emotions like never before, as long as you match them with the proper components. The Revel M20 and C30 are very detailed speakers with wonderful mid bass but they tend to roll off at the top end, so match them with components that will compliment this characteristic - perhaps Krell, Classe’ or Parasound.

Similar Products Used:

Aerial, Avalon, B&W, Dynaudio, JM Lab, Proac, Totem and others

Best midbass I''''ve ever heard. Grainless detail. Easy, natural sound. "Rightness".

Ultimate volume capabilities. A few other SOA speakers have more space between instruments.

Amazing sound- clean detail, superb bass definition and depth, no coloration that I can find, and no listening fatigue. A real gem!

Similar Products Used:

Over 150 pair of high end speakers in 35 years-Quad ''''stats, Apogee ribbons, Merlin VSM, lots more.

Power, balance, bass

Looks, maybe bass

Warning.. this review is based upon a listen in the local stereo shop. I haven't had them in my home. But they are sooo good, and nobody seems to want to review them. I'll break the ice. Warning 2.. I'm a sucker for minimonitors because of soundstaging, placement flexibility, etc.

That said, interestingly I've had these speakers on my mind ever since I heard them about a month ago. I've been seriously surfing around, trying to find them on the cheap, and that isn't going to happen with such a new product.

While I am not moved particularly by the looks of these minimonitors, I was moved by their sound. First of all was the shear power they delivered from their small boxes. Bass was aplenty, maybe a tad loose, but not bad. The mids and the treble was excellent, flawless really. I am very sensitive with digital to the highs, yet in typical Madrigal/Levinson style, everything was well-controlled and smooth, but not to a fault.

If I can find them at a little discount, I will buy them. I was hot for the new B&W Nautilus series, either the 804 or 805, but these little gems have pulled me off the scent. Go have a listen for yourself!

Similar Products Used:

Proac Response 2, B&W 601, 602, Magnapan 3.3, Ariel 10T (speakers I've lived extensively with)

Power, balance, bass

Looks, maybe bass

Warning.. this review is based upon a listen in the local stereo shop. I haven't had them in my home. Warning 2.. I'm a sucker for minimonitors because of soundstaging, placement flexibility, etc.

That said, interestingly I've had these speakers on my mind ever since I heard them about a month ago. I've been seriously surfing around, trying to find them on the cheap, and that isn't going to happen with such a new product.

While I am not moved particularly by the looks of these minimonitors, I was moved by their sound. First of all was the shear power they delivered from their small boxes. Bass was aplenty, maybe a tad loose, but not bad. The mids and the treble was excellent, flawless really. I am very sensitive with digital to the highs, yet in typical Madrigal/Levinson style, everything was well-controlled and smooth, but not to a fault.

If I can find them at a little discount, I will buy them. I was hot for the new B&W Nautilus series, either the 804 or 805, but these little gems have pulled me off the scent. Go have a listen for yourself!

Similar Products Used:

Proac Response 2, B&W 601, 602, Magnapan 3.3, Ariel 10T (speakers I've lived extensively with)

Excellent image width and depth. Very neutral sounding. Planar and dynamic speaker positive qualities combined into one small package.

Upper bass can be a bit "large". Probably because of the porting.

Excellent speakers in practically every regard. Clearer, cleaner treble than the Nautilus 805s. Much better image depth and width (not height) than the Maggies. They sounded alot like the Wilson WATTs (without puppies) that I have listened to. You must audition these speakers if you are looking at anything near the price.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 805, Magnepan 1.6, all the NHTs.

articulate, dynamic, coherent, build quality

looks

I bought the M20s as an upgrade to the Paradigm Reference Studio 60s. The 60s are a great speaker and I could have lived happily ever after with them. I was curious when the M20s came out from Revel. As good as the Studio 60s are, the M20s are simply more articulate, dynamic, and coherent. I can actually feel the acoustic pressure waves from the M20s as they play, they are that dynamic. They seem to have plenty of bass (down to 40 Hz) but I do use the Velodyne HGS-12 powered subwoofer to provide deep bass (which it does in spades). Imaging is spectacular as is resolution. I honestly feel as if they are the best a speaker can be. There is very little source material that challenges the M20s. My best CDs and DVDs seem to be no trouble. Unfortunately, many CDs are simply of too poor quality to play. I find that 96/24 DVDs, XRCDs, HDCDs, sound the best along with a few labels I can trust. Get yourself a pair if you want great speakers that aren't very expensive.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference Studio 60s

Imaging, soundstage, presence.

I have to confess: I don't actually own a pair of these, but I happened to be hear them playing when I visited Ambrosia, and I have to admit, they were fabulous.

I've seen quite a bit written about these speakers and there's no doubt in my mind, they employ an outstanding design. They have surprising soundstage for such a compact package. I have never in my life heard a better "bookshelf". Actually, these are good enough to replace more floorstanding speakers for that matter.

When I heard them, I realized the sound was incredibly vivid, spacious, and engaging. Comparing these speakers to normal bookshelves is like comparing walking outside to swimming in a pool of water (the sound is that thick and enveloping).

Very neutral speaker. Powerful bass for standmount. Beautiful image. Very precise and fast.

None

I had the M20's in my home for 1 day along with a new pair of, but now discontinued JM Lab Electra 905's.

My room is large and open to other areas of my home. The listening room itself is 20'x23' with a ceiling sloping up to a flat 12'. The area is open to our dining room, foyer, kitchen and morning room. In all, I've roughly calculated 10,000 cubic feet.

The speakers were moved on and off of the same pair of stands left in the same position. The power amp is a B&K Reference 2220 (220 wpcx2) with a B&K PT3 preamp (weaklink, I know) and Rotel RCD 971 CD player. All cabling was high end Monster interconnects and speaker.

My taste in music covers all types with the exception of rap. I really appreciate big symphonic pieces as well as artists as varied as K.D. Lang, Leonard Cohen and Diana Krall. I have an M&K MX700 sub which was not used for the comparison.

I was surprised by how well both speakers were able to fill the room. They both presented a wide and deep soundstage with excellent imaging. Both speakers disappeared when setup 4 feet from the back wall and 6 feet from the closest side wall. The speakers were about 6 to 7 feet apart and my listening position was 7 to 8 feet back limited somewhat by furniture placement in the room.

Playing a large venue of music left me with the following impressions:

Both speakers are extremely quick and dynamic. The 905's may have a very slight edge here. This is probably due to their higher sensitivity which measured to be 3.5 to 4 DB greater at 3 feet from either speaker with pink noise.

The bass on the M20's is much deeper and more powerful than the 905's. For many types of music, I could live with the M20's in this room without a sub. The 905's definitely need a sub.

The M20's sound smoother through the mid-range on some recordings where the 905's can be ever so slightly aggressive. In some cases this was to the advantage of the 905's. They can sound more open and revealing. On Telarc "William Tell and other Favorite Overatures" the opening cello solo on the "William Tell Overature" had more of a sense of air and space. I could also hear the rosin sounds on the strings with the 905's that was absent with the M20's, even with the tweeter adjustment set to +1.

Turning to rock & blues, the M20's seemed to "boogey" better, probably due to their more solid, deeper bottom end. Although this also made Leonard Cohen's voice (Ten New Songs CD) sound a little too boomy with a bit too much bloom. His voice sounded more believable and natural on the 905's.

Which speaker to purchase is a really difficult decision. For my taste, because I already have a high quality musical sub, I will probably go for the 905's. The added openess and air is important to me although the M20's are certainly very detailed, high resolution speakers. In small to medium sized rooms, I belive the M20's would be fantastic all by themselves with no real need for a sub with the exception of organ music.

I would really prefer a larger speaker such as the F30 but the spousal acceptance factor is very low because of their boxiness and very contemporary styling. I am also audtioning the new F50 because my wife does find this speaker decor friendly. The F50's are quite a jump at almost 4 times the price of the M20's. I have been listening to the F50's in the retailers store and will post a review after such time I've formed my opinion.

Similar Products Used:

JM Lab Electra, Proac, Thiel,B&W, Dynaudio, Paradigm, Quad

Small speaker with a big sound.

I couldn't take them home.

First of all, I don't own a pair of these speakers but I must let people know that they are well worth the price. I was blown away at how accurate and tight the sound was from these "small" speakers. The base from these speakers can keep up and surpass many floor standing models. It was also a true musical sounding base not hollow or synthetic. The highs are crisp and natural sounding. I wouldn't push them in a large room although I believe they would still do well. I would love to hear the floor standing model F30!

smooth mids, great dynamics, good bass for the size, revealing of source equipment

revealing of source equipment

As I said above, these speakers are very revealing of source components, their character changed completely when I switched from an Arcam integrated to a Proceed multi-channel amp at the dealers. You realy need to audition them in your home system to know how they will sound. With the arcam, piano was glorious and forceful with great sparkle, but the bass was almost nonexistant. With the proceed, the bass improved mightily, but the midrange lost some life. I wanted the best of both worlds! I'm using a NAD T760 home theater amp right now which is adequate, but I know not bringing out the best in these speakers. They are very lively speakers and can be bright in-room, this is not so much a problem since there is a tweeter level adjustment on the back. I really wish they were bi-wirable, but they are not. They can throw a large soundestage, and come close to the transparency I've heard from Martin-Logan electrostatics. Before I bought these I compared them to the B+W Nautilus 805s and they beat them in almost every category. Better dynamics, sweeter and more extended high end, tighter and less bloated bass. Only the 805s have a slightly nicer cabinet.



I've tried a number of interconnects between my LinkDAC II and amp, from the AQ Viper/Diamondback and the Nordost Blue Heavens. The vipers were nice, but a little dark, the BHs have excellent bass but the treble is a bit etched, so I am looking for a replacement. Choose your interconnects and speakers cables carefully.



They are only 84dB efficient according to stereophile and I agree, 60wpc is the minimum you'd want to use.



Associated Equipment:
*NAD T-760 amp
*FMS Waveguide speaker cables
*Toshiba DVD-Audio transport
*MSB LinkDAC II
*Nordost Blue Heaven interconnects
*Revel matching stands

Similar Products Used:

B+W 602, Revel F30, B+W Nautilus 805, various Martin-Logan models